During WWII, folk sought entertainment which included stopping by to visit a neighbor, riding bikes, playing parlor games, reading a book, listening to music and soap operas on the radio, listening or dancing to records, Saturday Matinees at the movies, local high school plays or concerts, attending ball games, church social events and the occasional Red Cross sponsored dance. People often got together in their backyards to share barbecues, went to a community sing, or attended a last minute wedding before the young man was shipped off overseas.

Imagine! Young folks actually survived and had fun without an IPAD, a smart phone, a Kindle, a laptop, a DVD or CD recorder, the internet, U-tube, Instagram, twitter, face book or the ability to text 300 message a day, and say absolutely nothing.

I have a vintage Betty Crocker book that includes food buying, preparation, meal planning and serving, recipes, rationing tips, and suggestions on how to stretch food, substitute ingredients, time-saving hints and party planning.
In the Party Planning section, I found several party ideas that included decorating, suggested games and menus (with recipes). Here’s my favorite. Original Betty Crocker text in bold, with my own added comments in italics.

Each girl brings “lunch for two,” making up a basket that looks as irresistible as possible. .The goal is to get the young man of her dreams to bid on the basket so they can share the lunch. The money raised goes to a charitable cause.

The basket is auctioned off to the highest bidder, and the winner shares lunch with the basket’s designer,which might have created some intrigue, beginning or possibly ending a budding romance. (Yikes!)

Simplicity, novelty and a look of plenty are desirable in the basket. (The way to a man’s heart is often through his stomach.) Prize winning examples: a small market basket covered with a fringed blue and white napkin; a grape basket with a bunch of lustrous grapes tied to the handle with a large green bow; an old style dinner bucket with a corner of a red checked napkin peeping out. Suggestions for ingredients include pickles; jellied chicken or slices of roast chicken; individual pies or tarts; devils food, angel food or spice cake or maybe some delectable molasses filled or sugar cookies in place of cake.(Maybe today’s basket would include a bottle of wine, a hunk of cheese and a bottle opener)Coffee or beverages served by the hostess.

After the auction, the Virginia Reel and old time square dances and an old fashioned spelling match add color to the entertainment.Doubt anyone even knows what a Virginia Reel is… and I’m not sure that spelling is still taught in today’s school. I know that history isn’t and heard that mandatory math is on its way out in some colleges.

My, things have changed. Sometimes, I think, thanks to the technology of today, people rely on ‘things’ to entertain, rather than on other people, and I think that’s a shame. What do you think?

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Mind Candy Mysteries –

Behold, I show you a mystery... 1 Corinthians 15:51a

In this and future blogs, we will explore mysteries in ways that may amuse and/or enlighten you. Maybe even give you something to talk about around the water cooler.

What exactly is a mystery? According to:Webster dictionary:
1. Mystery - Something that is not fully understood or that baffles or eludes the understanding. (Oddities in history, creations of Mother Nature or unknown mysteries of the universe.)
2. A religious truth incomprehensible to the reason and knowable only through divine revelation. –

Google definition:
Defines the word mystery as a novel or short story in which a detective (either professional or amateur) investigates and solves a crime mystery. The most famous mystery writers were Agatha Christy (Murder on the Orient Express) and Arthur Conan Doyle (Sherlock Holmes).

Let’s begin with a simple mystery. We’ll work up to the more complex another day.